I carved the turtle at Graham's workshop followed by a
short printing. After the final critique, we decided that I should
make a few changes such as making the turtle's head poke out of the
frame. This change resulted in numerous plugs.
The paper is Shin Torinoko white, although I would have preferred
a cream stock. I have had trouble with the sumi from the initial
keyblock impression smearing and picking up onto the later color
blocks. I solved this by printing a lighter keyblock impression, then
following it up with a darker one near the end. This was a little
risky as any expansion in the wood or paper would make registration
impossible, but it worked this time.
I also used a gray block (impression #15) which really makes an
image become cohesive and more 3-dimensional.
The 17th impression was an imbossing using a technique I had read
about using one's elbow (niku zuri). After the 30th print, both
elbows were quite sore for the next 2 days. I would hate to be the
apprentice in charge of embossing using that technique!
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